Northern soul is quite possibly the best genre of music ever. It got its name from the fact that London shops would see Northerners avoiding the funk records, opting instead for the poppy 60s soul. Motown, heavy, dancable, pop soul. This was paired with all-night parties featuring athletic dancing whose moves often mirrored the soon-to-be-popular breakdancing. Above is a documentary for the most famous of the northern soul allnighter clubs, Wigan Casino. In ‘78, it beat out Studio 54, then at its height, for Billboard’s best dance club in the world. The documentary not only gives a portrait of the club, but also of the working-class Northern youths who frequented it.
Note that the reason that they were fine with having no booze was that they were all hopped up on pills. In fact, that’s where products of the Northern soul scene, Dexys Midnight Runners, got their name (Dexedrine).
